Almeida was critical of Pogacar and looks back at lashing out at Pidcock: "The start of a small relationship"

João Almeida has had an extraordinary career so far. At UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the Portuguese is one of the few riders allowed to go for his own chances. Often enough, he also was a domestique for Tadej Pogacar, on whom he was critical in 2022. In this year's Vuelta, he did get his own chance and in the process we saw what appeared to be a hefty feud with Tom Pidcock.

Day nine of the Vuelta 2025 was not supposed to be too difficult, but the final climb caused a lot of nervousness among the classification riders. While little to no spectacle was expected, Jonas Vingegaard attacked on the final climb. The Dane broke away from the competition and Almeida chased with Pidcock.

That went anything but smoothly. Pidcock seemed to be at his maximum, while the UAE Portuguese wanted to go all out to get the Dane back. It made for an altercation, which viewers got to enjoy in HD. Question afterwards, of course, was: what did Almeida say to Pidcock?

"He said I needed to grow some balls", laughed the Brit from Q36.5 afterwards. "I said, if you ride a little slower, I can pull. I thought Almeida was the perfect wheel, that maybe we could come back that way. Chapeau to him: I couldn't help that much, and he yelled at me, but he's like a tractor. On that flat stretch, and especially the last kilometer, that was impressive. I could only just get past him."

Several months later, Almeida looks back on the incident in conversation with Matt Stephens. What exactly did he say at the time? "It was the same, yeah," laughs the Portuguese at Pidcock's words. "I don't think it was exactly "grow some balls," but it was something really close. I knew he was on the limit and I could feel it."

Still, at that point, the UAE leader wanted very much to get to Vingegaard's wheel. "I was like: I might want to give that extra push. But he had nothing left actually. I could feel that it, but you can always try." Nevertheless, Almeida speaks of "a good moment".

Why? Because neither man had a bad feeling about it. "I told him sorry afterwards and he said it was fine. I think it was no big deal, but I also think it was not the correct way to say things to each other," the Portuguese is honest. "But was nice in the actually. It put us a bit more together."

And so a bond even developed between the two, because of that moment. "Maybe it was the start of a small relationship. It was a good moment," said Almeida, who further reflected on the tough final climb. "It was also one of those days, you know. A beautiful, rainy day ... freaking cold. Chasing Vingegaard I was like: 'Tom, I really need your help.'"

The UAE star also had all but expected it that day. "I was on the bus before, in the meeting. It was like: nothing is going to happen. Then they just smashed the hammer. I feel like if I go full gas, I would maybe explode. It was one of those moments when you just don't know what to do."

In the end, Almeida finished second in the Vuelta, bringing UAE's total GC victories in major tours this year to one. That was thanks to Pogacar, who rode to his fourth Tour victory in very dominant fashion. Is the Slovenian actually beatable? Almeida, as a teammate, is the ideal person to answer that question.

"I think if it's a really harde stage, you're done," the Portuguese laughed immediately. "Don't even think much about it. Save your energy to do your best, because you're just going to hurt yourself." Still, Pogacar may not be unbeatable on every terrain, according to Almeida. "If it's like a tricky stage, I think you can."

"With a good team you might be able to put him in a bit of a struggle," the Portuguese knows. For that, he cites the eternal example of the 2022 Tour, where Jumbo-Visma managed to break the Slovenian tactically. "If he is alone, it's two-versus-one or three-versus-one, then it is harder for him."

About that day, both UAE teammates spoke earlier. "I told him this already, but I think he rode really badly that day. I think he still could have won, or be more ahead than he was. I think he learned a lot from that experience. Nobody knows everything."

But beating Pogacar, that remains very difficult, according to Almeida. "If you see him riding Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders ... Even Van der Poel is struggling to beat him. So many pavé riders just getting dropped from his wheel, which doesn't make much sense. But it is what it is. He's just stronger," the Portuguese concluded.